Thanks for the replies. I'll complete the fresh install setup and once all the software/hardware issues are solved, I'll clone the partition to the other two partitions I have and then I can experiment adding software. If a glitch develops I can simply copy the original OS back and start over adding browsers. I will place all the Opera versions on as USB/stand-alone installs and perhaps pick one as the default browser since I rarely use I.E.
Since I now have KernalEx I need to experiment with Firefox, Google and Seamonkey to see which gives me the results I want. Started reading the http://www.msfn.org forums, I'm sure that I can learn a lot there and figure out which browsers best suit my OS and my needs. Thanks again for the replies!